Preloading

What Happened to the Mom Who Saved Her Kids from a Runaway SUV?

Season 5 Episode 502
Aired on 03/08/2015 | CC
In 2004, Oprah interviewed a heroic mother who made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of her three children.

While vacationing in Colorado, Joy Veron's children became trapped inside a runaway SUV. As the truck started rolling toward a steep cliff at the edge of a deep canyon, Joy threw her body in its path, slowing it just enough for her father to jump inside and pull the emergency brake. Miraculously, Joy survived the accident, but with her back broken, doctors gave her less than a 1 percent chance of walking again.

Now, 11 years later, Joy shares how she finally accepted her fate. "I remember laying in my bed one day and being depressed and hearing my children playing outside," she says. "And, I remember thinking then, 'It's my choice. I can lay here, and I can be depressed, and I can miss out on a lot in life. Or I could learn to walk again, but maybe not walk in the physical sense, but walk in life.'"

In the above video, Joy's children open up about what they've learned from their mother. Plus, Joy reveals how she's dealing with the end of her 23-year marriage.

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